Free to study. Every lesson and assessment is free. Paid certificates are not on sale yet.

Menu

Privacy at workfree online awareness course for New Zealand workers

What the Privacy Act 2020 means in everyday work: collecting, protecting, sharing and disposing of information, and what to do after a mistake.

  • About 35 min
  • 5 short modules
  • 15 questions
  • 80% to pass
An open filing cabinet drawer packed with paper records.

About this course

Most jobs involve other people's personal information, whether that is a client's file, a customer's booking or a colleague's bank details. This course explains what New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 expects of you day to day, using workplace situations rather than legal language.

You can study and sit the assessment free, with no account. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner also runs free privacy training, linked on this page, and you may prefer it. Pay only if you pass and want our certificate.

What you will learn

  • Recognise personal information at work, including when it has no name on it
  • Explain why some information needs extra care
  • Apply the main privacy principles when collecting, storing, using, sharing and disposing of information
  • Respond correctly when someone asks to see, correct or obtain information
  • Recognise a privacy breach and report it straight away

Who this course is for

  • Anyone who handles customer, client or staff information, in any role
  • Care, support, early childhood and hospitality workers who keep notes or take bookings
  • New staff and team leaders who want a plain-language refresher

How the course works

  1. 1. What counts as personal informationWhat the Privacy Act covers, what personal information looks like at work, and why some of it needs extra care.About 5 min, ending with a quick check
  2. 2. Collecting information fairlyAsking only for what you need, getting it from the right place and telling people what is happening.About 5 min, ending with a quick check
  3. 3. Keeping information safe and correctEveryday habits that protect people's information, who should see it, and checking it is right before you rely on it.About 4 min, ending with a quick check
  4. 4. Using, sharing and disposing of informationWhen information can be used or passed on, what to do when someone asks for it, and how long to keep it.About 6 min, ending with a quick check
  5. 5. People's rights, and when things go wrongRequests to see or correct information, what a privacy breach is, and what to do when you notice one.About 5 min, ending with a quick check
  6. Sit the assessment15 questions drawn at random. You need 80% to pass, and there is no time limit. If you do not pass, you will see which topics to review, then try again with a new set of questions.Free, and so are retries
  7. If you pass, the certificate is your choiceYou pay once, then get the PDF straight away and a copy by email. Your place is saved on this device the whole way, with no sign-up.NZ$24.90, optional
A sample Steadyhand Training certificate of completion made out to Your Name, with its details blurred.
Sample. Yours shows your name, the course, the date and an ID anyone can check.

What this certificate does and does not show

  • This is general awareness of the Privacy Act 2020. It is not legal advice.
  • It does not make your organisation compliant with the Act, and on its own it does not prepare you to act as a privacy officer.
  • It only touches on the Health Information Privacy Code and other codes of practice. If one applies to your work, follow that code and your organisation's rules.

If you go straight to the assessment without completing the modules, your certificate is titled Certificate of Knowledge Assessment, because that is what it records.

Anyone can check a certificate on our verification page using its ID or QR code. More about the certificate.

Questions about this course

How is this different from the Privacy Commissioner's free training?

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is the regulator, and its modules are free, so they are a good choice on their own. We are independent of it. This course is written around everyday situations for people in frontline roles, and offers an optional paid certificate that anyone can check on our verification page.

Does this course make my workplace compliant with the Privacy Act?

No. An online course cannot do that. Your organisation's duties include having a privacy officer, reasonable safeguards, and ways of dealing with requests and breaches. This course helps individual staff understand their part.

Does it cover the Health Information Privacy Code?

Only briefly. The code applies to health agencies, such as rest homes, doctors, nurses and other providers of health or disability services, and it takes the place of the privacy principles for health information. If that is your workplace, the Privacy Commissioner's free Health ABC and Health 101 modules are written for it.

Is this legal advice?

No. It is general information to help you handle everyday situations. If you have a specific problem, talk to your privacy officer, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner or a lawyer.

Will my employer accept the certificate?

Ask them first. Each employer decides what training it accepts, and some may prefer the Privacy Commissioner's own modules. You can study and sit the assessment free before deciding whether to buy anything.

Official sources behind this course

The lessons are original summaries of these sources. For your own situation, the source is what counts.

Show all 24 sources

Version 1.0.0, last checked 2026-11-03. Approved for publication by our editor on 2026-11-09. Not reviewed by an external professional. How we check our content.

Related courses

Office, privacy and cyber security

Cyber Security Basics for Workers

Everyday cyber security for people who are not IT staff: passwords, two-step verification, updates, devices, Wi-Fi, file sharing, backups, AI tools and reporting.

  • 36 min
  • 5 modules

Free to study

Certificate NZ$24.90 if you pass

Office, privacy and cyber security

Spotting Scams and Phishing at Work

How scams reach workers, how to check a message, payment or call by another channel, and what to do straight after a mistake, without shame.

  • 38 min
  • 5 modules

Free to study

Certificate NZ$24.90 if you pass

Employment, leadership and communication

Record Keeping at Work

How to write factual, timely notes, correct mistakes honestly, handle incident and complaint records, and understand who may read records and how long they are kept.

  • 37 min
  • 5 modules

Free to study

Certificate NZ$24.90 if you pass

Passed 2 or more courses? Buy their certificates together and pay 20% less.

Need help before you start?

Write to support@steadyhand.co.nz and a person will answer. Who runs this site.

Free to study.
Certificate NZ$24.90 if you pass.